


Telepathy

by Blue_Hood



Series: Power Prompts [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Mutants, Amnesia, Amnesiac Bucky Barnes, Gen, Implied/Referenced Mind Control, Metalbending & Metalbenders, Mind Control, Mutant Politics, Mutant Powers, Mutant Tony Stark, Mutants, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27762400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: Expansion of Chapter 2 of What Superpower Should Tony Stark Have?What if Tony was a telepath? What if he read Steve's mind after the Data Dump? Would that change things for the better? Would that affect the Infinity War?
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr & Charles Xavier, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark
Series: Power Prompts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986601
Comments: 33
Kudos: 40





	1. Truth

As a courtesy, ethical telepaths usually chose to stay the fuck out of other people's heads. Tony wouldn't say he exercised restraint due to ethics. Most people were so stupid that he felt it was bad for his own mental state to spend any time in another’s mind. However, like other telepaths, he couldn’t help picking up on projected thoughts so when he got an impression of "he can't know", curiosity got the best of him. As much as he regretted it, he was for once glad to be a telepath. Even though he had to flee to his Quiet Room- the walls, floor and ceiling of the secret chamber were made of the same metal as Magneto’s helmet for psychic shielding. Only JARVIS could open the door and the thickness of the walls made it soundproofed, hence the name quiet room.

Once he calmed down enough to be confident he wouldn't obliterate the mind of the first human he encountered, he got to work. First, he found Barnes and arranged his arrest through some of his trusty law enforcement contacts, sending them part of the Winter Soldier file and all of Sergeant Barnes' US Army file with the promise of more information pending. Then he contacted King T’Chaka to ask about Wakanda’s stance on mutants before getting involved with the Accords. Lastly, and maybe this should've been first, he went through his teammates' SHIELD files with a fine toothed comb. Gathering all of the information that Romanoff was considerate enough to dump on the web, he determined who was in on the betrayal and who wasn't. He responded accordingly, destroying the worst of the lot. Throughout all of it, he only slept in the Quiet Room and avoided people like the plague.


	2. X-Men

Tony was able to convince authorities to let him take Barnes to the X-Men for treatment, pointing out how dangerous both Barnes and the mutants were. James Barnes was almost docile as Tony flew his quinjet to the school, after checking for and removing all bugs. Landing at Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, James showed more emotion than he had since he was arrested. "This is a bad idea," he said, looking around at the various students.

Tony looked at Charles and thought _De_ _mo time?_

_Yes, I think so._

Tony turned and caught Barnes' eye before shrugging and putting the man to sleep. The Winter Soldier dropped to the ground in an instant before Tony woke him up. As the veteran looked at him, Tony pointed to Charles then himself "We're world class telepaths, we can access minds miles away. You become a threat, he'll take you down. Still think this is a bad idea?"

James stood up and shook his head, "No."

Mentally, Tony asked Charles _Can I use Cerebro?_

_Yes. Come to my office once you are finished._

Tony used the power booster to find people from the Index who went missing after the Data Dump and guide the living to safety. He took a couple breaks to make note of where certain people of interest were holed up, committing the locations to memory and entering the data into his phone. Once he finished using the mutant finder, he made adjustments to the system to protect it against tampering before heading up and using his gift to find the Professor's office. The X-Men, both senior (teachers) and junior (senior students) teams, were gathered. Tony leaned against a bookcase, "Since this is Charles' home, I'm gonna be nice and follow his rules by asking for permission to show you all what I saw in 2012. In case Chuck didn't mention it, I am also a world class telepath. One of three, last time I checked."

"Three?" asked one of the students.

"Prof, ya mind implanting everyone's names into my head?" He let the older telepath in, learning the boy who had spoken was named Bobby Drake, codename Iceman. "Thanks. Yes, three. Charles Xavier, Emma Frost and I are all world class telepaths, or we were. I guess Jean could be one if she took the time to learn instead of leaving the mental barriers Charles put around her power up, barriers she asked for as a student. I didn't detect Emma when I was in Cerebro, I wasn't really looking but I was online long enough for her to notice and she didn't- it would seem I missed the memo that she's dead, haven't I?"

"You have missed quite a bit."

"Right. Before we get into mutant history, again you'll have my permission to implant the information, but before we get into that, I need everyone's permission to bring you up to speed on the Avengers business, if not Iron Man business. Show of hands, who's cool with me going into your heads and just showing you what I saw in 2012?" Everyone raised their hands, seeming more uncomfortable with the show of hands than the mental intrusion but they were Charles' students, past and present. "Anyone cool with getting Iron Man info implanted, there are a lot of things that SHIELD brushed under the rug. Keep your hands up if you are." Nobody lowered their hands. "Great. Give me two minutes." He implanted the Iron Man information as background then gave them a quick rundown of the events leading up to New York before showing them what he saw on the other side of the portal. "Now that we're all on the same page, I have a proposal for you guys and Hank."

"Who's Hank?" asked Rogue.

"Dr. Henry McCoy, Secretary of Mutant Affairs, founding member of the X-Men, codename Beast. He's big, blue, furry, and above all, a diplomat, a member of cabinet actually. His doctorate is in engineering, like mine, but that doesn't matter. I'll brief you guys and Charles can bring Hank up to speed. Now, there's a document in the works that we're calling the Enhanced Accords, the name's a work in progress. Basically, it's the UN's response to the Avengers. I have a line on one of the drafters, King T'Chaka of Wakanda, and I've already confirmed he is pro-mutant. The isolated nation of Wakanda is situated in the poverty stricken part of Africa and people with gifts are actually elevated in their society based on the gifts. T'Chaka told me that when mutants first started popping up, the gifts were believed to have come from their goddess, Bast, but even knowing the true source, they still see them as gifts. The mutants in Wakanda have never posed a threat to the general populace, in fact they find mutant discrimination baffling for this reason. He's working on the Accords to protect those of his people with gifts, I got the feeling that covers more than mutants, so he's on our side. With a drafter on our side, we can influence the text of the Accords. Added to the fact that the Accords are a big part of Wakanda's reintegration plan, we can guarantee King T'Chaka's contributions will be spotlighted, which will give us room to bargain once they're ratified."

"What are the Accords about?" asked Jean.

"Accountability. Nobody wants a rerun of Rogers and Romanoff's show in DC, the Accords are the UN's response to that. Once there's a draft and a break in the drafting process, I'll see if I can get T'Chaka to send a copy to Hank. Getting anyone in on the drafting, like Hank who is clearly Enhanced, might be a challenge but advising someone who is already in, that's much easier and more strategic. I figured I'd give you a taste of mutant politics to go with Charles' mutant ethics. The Accords are, above all, a work in progress, they could change shape at almost anytime. I'm not even supposed to know about them yet, why do you think I contacted T'Chaka who wouldn't know the UN is limiting knowledge of the document? I told him not to tell anyone and why he shouldn't but going in, I took advantage of his ignorance to test the waters. Anyway, the important thing to note is that as a UN document, the Accords should give the Enhanced a foot in the door to secure human rights world wide but change is slow, sometimes it's so slow that it's like the status quo is God, and that's coming from an atheist. For the UN to write a document with the intention of bridging international Enhanced community with regular human infrastructure, they have to recognize the Enhanced as people. Mutants make up a majority of the Enhanced population last I checked, which is while I was in Cerebro just before I came in here. You give Enhanced rights, you give mutants rights. I make no promises but that's the goal of trying to read you in. Plus I need everyone I can get preparing for the next invasion, SHIELD and the Avengers refused to believe me when I tried to warn them, they actually took steps to make sure nobody heard my warnings. They're out of the picture so now, I'm spreading the news. Alright?"

"That's a lot to take in."

"I know but I'm only supposed to drop off Barnes, read you in on the invasion to come and go so I've already gone off-mission. Why do you think they let the son of two Winter Soldier victims escort the guy? Don't answer that, there is a good chance they didn't know the Winter Soldier killed my parents with how well SHIELDRA covered it up. I suggested bringing him here and having you treat him so that nobody could trigger him and nobody else could be killed by the Soldier. I think the Winter Soldier isn't James Barnes, I think they're like two different personalities sharing a body or something. Barnes was practically docile the whole flight here, I think it's different when he's in control and that's why he said bad idea, he might be afraid of losing that control. I don't know."

"So you need to get going?"

"Yeah. I have to prepare a written briefing on what I know about the possible invasion to come for government sponsored Enhanced teams before fielding another call with King T'Chaka. I need to know right now if I should direct him to Secretary McCoy and I could use a hand getting Ross out of the cabinet, I have Bruce and I think his daughter Betty would be willing to testify about his Hulk busting days."

Charles said "Breathe, Anthony. I think you should share your load with Henry but call him before directing King T'Chaka to him, perhaps make it a conference call so you can introduce them. As for Ross, you have time."

"I'm worried that the general turned Secretary of State might get wind of the Accords and turn them into an Enhanced draft."

"One thing at a time, Anthony."

Logan turned to Jean, "I thought you said Cerebro took focus and that's why you can't use it."

"Oh that reminds me," Tony said "I made some adjustments to Cerebro, should be all but tamper proof now. If I have time, I might come back and upgrade some of your tech downstairs." To Logan, he explained "I can focus when I need to but I have a lot to do." Turning his attention back to the room at large, he assured "The briefing, once dispersed, should lighten my load tremendously but a lot of superhumans and super teams are not government sponsored for obvious reasons, I need to meet with them face-to-face to bring them up to speed. I'll have JARVIS write and submit the briefing while I call Hank before my call to T'Chaka. If you guys need anything, give me a call. Charles has my number." Without another word, he left to get back to work.


	3. Rosses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everett Vs Thaddeus 'Thunderdolt' Ross.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thunderdolt is not a typo, Thunderbolt is too awesome for that bastard and he really is a dolt.

Tony made a list of every super team he knew of that was not government sponsored then he delved into each team to find the person best suited to handle politics, the 'diplomat'. He sent them a copy of the official briefing with a rundown of the Accords, slipping the latter to the government sponsored teams covertly. He actually went so far as to contact pro-Enhanced/pro-mutant nonprofits to get a group of political scientists to organize the various teams and their takes on the Accords into briefings for King T'Chaka, going through Secretary McCoy after their conference call made McCoy another preferred contact with the outside world. Eventually, there was a huge, global alliance ready to fend off the next invasion and that alliance provided the needed leverage to officially get McCoy in on the drafting of the Accords as a seasoned diplomat and representative of the Enhanced. With that done, Tony moved down his to-do list and found himself staring at the Ross problem.

First, he set up a meeting with Betty Ross, who agreed to testify in exchange for protection against her father. Reuniting her with Bruce and placing her on his floor (in the guest room, for now) was just icing. With those two ready to testify, Tony gathered all of the records available to the public, including files he got from the Data Dump. His response to the dump had been a virus, corrupting the files and creating replicas with conflicting information. None of the intel was accurate when he was done and that was before mutant technopaths got thrown into the mix. Tony still wasn't sure who the technopaths were with, if they worked for anyone or what they had hoped to accomplish but their mere involvement had caused interested parties to abandon their plans. Regardless, Tony had the only clean copy of the SHIELD database and he started gathering evidence against Ross using the files in said database. He had an official contract to deal with the Data Dump that included permission to keep any files of interest, which had been translated off-the-record to a request that he keep a copy in case the records were ever needed since SI had arguably the best digital security. With the SHIELD files, Betty and Bruce, Tony circled back to getting more testimony from Ross's underlings, the soldiers who were just following orders and had no idea how to get out once it sunk in just how bad of an idea following the General was. There was plenty of that, the files and his first two witnesses had been enough to get an official investigation launched, Tony just pointed the agents in the direction of more witnesses. SHIELD was thorough, if nothing else, so Tony had no reason to get documentation elsewhere.

When he was done with Thaddeus, he decided to look into another Ross in the American government's employ. Everett Ross had as close to a sterling record as a CIA field agent could get. Tony set up a meeting with Everett to hand over a stack of hard drives, "Here is everything SHIELD had on terrorist organizations, past and present. These are copies of the data, you work joint terrorism and you passed my screening process so I'm sure you're not with any of the agencies listed on these drives. I've taken the liberty of labelling each drive."

"Thank you," Ross took the drives. "Why go through all this trouble for a hand off?"

"Your last name."

"No relation."

"I know. Technically, you must be something like cousins somewhere down the line to have the same last name without an immediate familial connection but that's beside the point. I wouldn't be handing these over to you if I hadn't screened you. The fact I set up this meeting should make your life easier since I'm one of the private contractors responsible for screening high ranking agents for HYDRA ties. You'll still catch flak for your last name. Let's be honest, if people were always perfectly reasonable, you wouldn't have a job. BUT, this should help, I hope."

"Thank you."

"Welcome."


	4. Wolverine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony lets something slip, a few things come to light, the Maximoffs make their move, more background is revealed. All in one meeting.

Tony Stark, Bruce Banner and James Rhodes joined the X-Men for McCoy's briefing on the Accords as they currently stood. To be completely truthful, most of New York's Enhanced were gathered for this briefing. Tony didn't mean to derail the meeting, honestly, he was just being respectful when he addressed Logan as "Lieutenant," on his way out of the room to get the tech he brought for some of his fellow mutants.

Then Wolverine shot over to him and carefully reached for him, he withdrew his hand when Tony flinched away, before asking "What did you call me?"

"Lieutenant. Sorry it's Logan now, isn't it?" Realization dawned on Stark, "And that has nothing to do with hiding your age and everything to do with memory issues, am I right?"

"Yeah."

"Um, I'm going to try to dig up your military records. In the meantime, I could show you how Rogers remembers you. Fair warning, Rogers suffers from delusions. His head is not one I want to revisit. He remembered you, rather vaguely, as Lucky James but your uniform in the memories marked you as a Lieutenant with the surname Howlett. Put that together, your real name may or may not be James Howlett. May I?" He gestured to his own head then Logan, the older mutant nodding. "Remember, this may not be the most accurate." Logan was treated to flashbacks to the 40s, he saw bullets flying around him without hitting then he saw himself at a celebration, drinking with his fellow soldiers in uniform. One soldier referred to him as Lucky James when he reported for duty, going on an assignment with the Howling Commandos. The flashbacks ended just as a woman in a strange uniform crashed into Tony, shoving him into a wall. Metal shot towards her and pulled her off him as a look of confusion covered her face, Rhodes extending his hand just a minute too late. "Sorry 'bout that. An information exchange, automatic American reintegration and superhuman debrief from me to you, intel on aliens from you to me, seemed like the quickest, most effective way to explain what was going on. Let's start over, I'm Tony Stark. The man who pulled you off of me over there and who is going to let you go now is Lt. Col. James Rhodes of the United States Air Force."

Rhodes seemed to only then realize his hand was extended as he dropped it "Tones, I told you never to do that."

"You didn't notice so it didn't confuse you."

Glaring at his best friend, Rhodes returned all the metal before explaining "Everyone in this room is superhuman. Most of us, like Tony, myself and the man Tony was talking to when you barrelled into him are mutants."

"Yeah, Tony included that in my reintegration?" She seemed unsure of the last word.

"Bringing you up to speed on the world, the US in particular, and superhuman matters. Can you think of a better word for that?"

"No. I gave Fury that pager, why didn't he use it for New York?"

"Again, sorry about that. If it helps, Professor Xavier is a world class telepath and he's better at easing people into things than I am. I'm guessing we're seeing the reason he didn't use his power to rush the Winter Soldier."

Charles wheeled himself over cautiously, eying Rhodes, who gave him an unimpressed look that screamed _I am not Magneto!_ "Hello, I am Professor Charles Xavier."

"Carol Danvers."

Tony said "If you'll excuse me, I was just about to pass out some things I made especially for the people in this room to help them with their superpowers." When he came back, Rhodey started throwing pieces of metal at him, which he dodged playfully while most of the room was knocked out and everyone who was conscious watched them dead-eyed. "What's up, Sugarplum?" He made a few more attempts at banter before pressing into his friend's mind and kicking out his fellow intruder. As soon as he was aware, Rhodey sent the metal at their newest intruders, pinning the Maximoff twins to a wall. Tony went back to his bag of toys and fixed the gadgets with help from his best friend. "We cool?"

"You shouldn't use your powers on someone you don't know."

"I know, I know, your parents gave me the same lecture about flying under the radar. Mama Rhodes keeps a running tally of the people that revelation would hurt, you know she does."

"To be fair, she does the same thing with me."

Kitty cut in "Sorry to interrupt but one, what are you talking about? And two, what are we gonna do with them?"

Tony said "To answer your second question, I'm not sure if they're mutants or mutates but I know normal prison isn't going to hold them so your team is gonna have to figure out something until I can fashion a power inhibitor and hand the two HYDRA agents over to the proper authorities. I'm assuming the X-Men have facilities to hold out of control mutants until they get control."

"We might, I'll check."

"And as for the first question, Rhodey doesn't usually extend his hand or make any outward gesture when he uses his gift because his parents' response to finding out he could move a car with his mind was to sit him down and explain why he can't flaunt his power. His mother was a lawyer, she made an excellent case by telling him what happened to mutants who were public about their status. His father was in the military, he shared rumors about mutant soldiers, how they disappeared and what people said about them. The combination is hard to beat. The first time Rhodey brought me over, he actually introduced me as his mutant friend. By the end of the visit, his mother had given me The Talk but with the added bonus of what would happen to Stark Industries if people found out the heir was a mutant since families often got hurt when one member was outed."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Rhodey grew up knowing he couldn't use his powers in a very obvious way and needing to find a way to control it. Luckily, we were both highly intelligent before we manifested, he managed to get control over his power with just his mind, no gesture needed. Now the problem is when he wants people to know it's him, the gestures most people with kinetic powers make interfere with his powers. He can't control his powers that way so he can't show people that he's the one moving the metal. It's a double edged sword, helps him hide but when he wants to come out, it's hard."

"I think I understand."

"I know you do. Sorry, I'm not as seasoned a telepath as the Professor. Never was a student of his, I went straight from military school to MIT. Anyway, have you let the Prof know we're counting on him for temporary containment?" He pointed to his head and she frowned, projecting the thought and getting an affirmative, which she chose not to relay after seeing Tony nod in understanding. Once the tech was repaired, Tony went around, presenting Scott with a prototype headband for a VR console and a camera so he could see in color, giving Rogue a watch that synced to her phone and projected a harmless energy field so she could touch people again, among other goodies. The meeting resumed once the Professor indicated Carol was in a more clear headspace and Iron Legionnaires had taken the Maximoff Twins away (both still wrapped up in metal that was too restricting for them to do anything) to the X-Men's base. They got a clear picture of the Accords as they currently stood and began making plans for the imminent invasion.


	5. Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not Tony's strong suit, which is usually dangerous for a super

Tony had regrets. Obie was probably his biggest. When Tony gave his trust to someone, he also gave them a way to block him, to protect themself from his power so that he would always know that they were speaking and acting of their own free will, that he could not accidentally use his power against them. Stane used that to his advantage, abused it. There was a reason he hired people who didn't speak any language Tony knew, Tony didn't know how to work around language barriers before Afghanistan. Rhodey, Happy, Pepper, and now Bruce had never abused that gift.

Although Bruce had to face facts when Tony bestowed an immunity to psychic tampering upon him. Making people immune to his power was not part of his power, it was a skill he developed using his power. When he made the offer to Bruce, he explicitly said "This isn't the easiest thing to do and it's not a one-way street. You will have to help me do it or it won't work. You'll have to be patient with me, I haven't done this since before Afghanistan."

"I'm not sure-"

"The immunity would extend to the Hulk and I have enough experience with manipulation to make your mind blare alarms when someone tries that."

"Boss, you're pushing," said Happy, who had volunteered to act as an example of what Tony was offering when he shared his intentions to immunize Bruce with those he had already immunized.

"Sorry, Bruce."

Betty, who shared a lab with Bruce, asked Happy "What's it like? I mean, if someone tried to control you, would you even notice or would it just not work?"

"Depends on the kind of control. Manipulation, like spies employ, raises alarms. Pepper is the last person Boss immunized, his technique improves each time as he's exposed to more kinds of control, he can help us become immune to them. When Romanoff infiltrated SI, I got the sense something was off but then I found out Tony was dying and almost dismissed my concerns as that."

"Romanoff wasn't targeting you."

"I know. I don't think anyone's tried to control me directly since, ever. Pepper has a company to run and Rhodey is technically an Air Force officer but since the Avengers fell apart, the military wants him to try to fill the gap."

"He has his own secrets to keep, Hap."

"Right." Happy told Betty "As I said, Boss's technique improves each time. Bruce wouldn't be able to ignore the signs of manipulation but Boss has to be careful not to make him super paranoid. Like he said, it's not a one-way street."

Bruce asked "How does this work exactly?"

"You and Tony sit down for like an hour or so while he helps you develop and shore up mental defenses. Think of each part of your mind like a room with hallways connecting them. Tony will help you install a security system, which only you will control. To make sure he's protecting you against himself, he'll wander away when you set the code. Does that make any sense? I'm sure Tony can give you a more scientific explanation if that doesn't make any sense."

"So I'll be able to tell when someone's trying to break into my mental house?"

"And keep them out, yes."

"That does make sense."

Betty said "That actually simplifies things."

"It takes at least an hour and it works best if they're in the Quiet Room for that hour."

"Quiet Room?"

Happy glanced at Tony, who nodded, "It's a room Tony built as an escape from his powers. The room is based on Magneto's helmet, totally shielded against psychic powers. We call it the Quiet Room because when he's alone inside the room, he can't hear other people's thoughts, it's quiet."

"Oh."

"Yeah. No distractions, the room is pretty much empty and only JARVIS can open the door so nobody can intrude. I'm not even sure where the Tower's Quiet Room is."

Bruce said "I'll think about it." Ultimately, predictably, he went for it.

During their session to give Bruce the offered gift, Tony proved Hulk was sentient and introduced the two occupants of his friend's mind to each other, using his powers to keep Hulk from smashing puny Banner and making them stay together to try talking. That hour turned into a whole day as he played therapist to two sulky halves of one man's psyche. In the end, he created a new 'room' in the 'mental house' shared by Bruce Banner and the Hulk, before helping to install a 'security system'. Happy's terminology stuck and worked well for Bruce. The new room was like a lounge where the two could talk with a TV enabling Hulk to see through Bruce's eyes and vice versa, both sides of the mutate were very imaginative. Everyone had a mindscape and Bruce's actually did look like a house, a pretty nice house at that.

After they finished, Tony told Bruce "The mental house was a metaphor. Did you always view your mind that way?"

"No. Wait, you weren't making it-"

"Nope. Everyone has a mindscape, we just toured yours."

"Interesting."

Tony had regrets but he also had hope. Hopefully, he wouldn't immunize another Obie against his control.


	6. eXposed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey gets outed and Tony mouths off

Of all the ways for his secret to come out, saving the President wasn't a bad way to go. Saving his cabinet, not counting the Mutant Affairs Secretary, made it a bit worse. Rhodey had run as soon as the Secret Service started shooting at fucking Magneto and since he couldn't knock the President down in time, he just made the bullets his fellow mutant turned against the leader of the free world stop in midair. He made all of the bullets stop then stuck all of the guns to the ceiling and stood protectively in front of the President. The Defense Secretary made the declaration "You're a mutant."

Tony said "Yeah, he must be a real monster, using his terrible mutant powers to save all of your lives. I mean, it's not like he's done anything great with his life, he's just a dirty mutant. It's not like he's," then his best friend listed off of his accomplishments, including his MIT degree under the title rocket scientist, and growing more mocking with each accolade. "You have everything to fear from the man who dedicated his life to protecting this country, knowing full well a significant portion of the people in it would shoot him if they knew he could stop bullets with his mind." Turning to Magneto, he said "You're not a very proactive man." Then he explained how Magneto and the Brotherhood's crimes tended to be reactionary, how they avenged their fellow mutants in the name of mutant supremacy/rights. Ending with "I'm sure I'm gonna be arrested for aiding and abetting a terrorist organization or some shit because only a mutant could understand a mutant and I just laid out your MO." The Secret Service moved to arrest Tony but the President called them off.

Curiosity winning out over the much lessened fear after Tony's tangents, an aide asked Rhodes "Why don't you move your hands like he does when you use your powers?" gesturing to Magneto then ducking behind Rhodes.

Tony told the mutant supremist, "I think you leaving would be more beneficial to the cause and your goals. They seem to be listening, at least for now." Magneto nodded once and flew away, sure that something was off with the inventor. To the aide, and the room at large if he were being honest, Tony asked "Do you want the honest to God truth or the politically correct answer?"

"The honest answer."

After just a moment's more hesitation, Rhodes answered "Anonymity. People can't shoot a mutant if they can't tell who in a crowd is a mutant. Tony probably knows the stats-"

His best friend listed off the average number of mutant murder cases both in the current day and when they were in college, giving the number of mutant victims versus alleged mutant perpetrators with a quip of "But, of course, mutants are the monsters. There's barely any evidence in these cases, mutant murder victims only get justice when their killer comes forward to soak in the praise for dealing with the monster and I've yet to hear of anyone knowingly putting a mutant on trial, seems like finding a mutant who was nearby is a good way to boost closure rates for felonies. Mutants dream of having basic human rights but for hundreds, if not thousands of mutants, it's already too late. Still, they're the monsters, right?" Hank knew Tony was a mutant but he had been given a very comprehensive explanation for why Tony never came out as a mutant and why he probably won't come out until mutant rights have become the norm. Seeing him talk about mutants in the third person drove home the many advantages that came with people thinking he was human. The way his words sunk in, the way his attitude helped matters, it was a sight to behold and a great lesson in interspecies politics. The two Avengers left shortly after Tony finished playing up the stupidity of anti-mutant prejudice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should Pyro be an X-Man or Magneto's lieutenant? Lemme know what you think.


	7. Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations for future alien invasions get underway

Tony and Rhodey were both genius rocket scientists so it did not take long for them to make their armors space-worthy. Once that was done, they proposed using their armors and drone armors designated the Iron Legion to put together planetary defenses in space. The Iron Legion all had very limited capabilities, in fact they were primarily geared towards humanitarian aid work, especially tasks that involved heavy lifting. The Legion was heavily automated but had a secondary piloting interface for jobs that required a bit of finesse. They were actually perfect for a space mission as the primary reason Tony made them was to handle work that was too dangerous for humans, like evacuating potential invasion sites. The drones were marketed for humanitarian aid to the public but they were actually intended to replace humans in the evacuation, search and rescue, and initial reconstruction of invasion sites to ensure a repeat of the Chitauri Invasion would not be 9/11 Take Three.

Tony and Rhodey had to reiterate and emphasize the latter's engineering degree to get their proposal even heard properly but once the people they were pitching to stopped questioning James Rhodes' credentials, they actually liked the plan. A modified satellite would be launched to give them something to tether to when they flew additional components. The politicians admitted to their own shortcomings in the engineering department after both MIT alumni corrected a few misconceptions. However, it was clear the politicians were going to look into using the Legionnaires they already had or had ordered for more involved tasks. Tony made a point of letting them know that the Legion would need to be piloted for this task, subtly informing them that they would need technicians to use the Legion for anything beyond the basics they were marketed for.

The satellites came together beautifully, with very few speed bumps. Apparently, space agencies were very interested in the potential for robot astronauts and quickly adapted their work-in-progress plans for the new mission parameters. Being able to use scientists who did not have to pass the physical tests to be an astronaut for space missions was huge to the businessmen in charge of such agencies. Tony and Rhodey had the lead on the missions as the only humans on-site so-to-speak and the technicians on Earth had to do as they asked or risk Tony disabling all of the Iron Legionnaires in their country's fleet, a threat only issued to the higher ups who determined how many Legionnaires were assigned to each satellite. The plan was simple: people on the ground would build the components and the armors would take them up, Tony and Rhodey doing most of the installations as the Iron Legion had major, intentional limitations. The speed bumps appeared when designing the anchoring satellites, originally they were going to use satellites that had fallen out of use and repurpose them but in the end, they made and launched new satellites. The Iron Legion cleared the space around the planet by taking down unused satellites. Realignment, getting all of the satellites from both public and private sectors lined up in such a way that they all worked, would be a challenge but that could wait.

During the project, an engineering challenge was posed to the remaining scientists in the Enhanced community, building a mobile platform to strip the two armored Avengers out of the space suits to boost efficiency. Youths were invited to join the challenge, working on the theory, with a scholarship offered to the best idea. After finishing work on the last relay station for the defense grid, Tony and Rhodey touched down on the mobile station and walked along the platform at a slow steady pace. Remnants of their suits remained for doctors to remove as they eased the pair back into Earth's atmospheric standards. Some of the life support systems had stayed on to boost efficiency during the months long project, Rhodey and Tony were both glad to be rid of it all. They were also pleased to see how the world rallied together to get the defense grid up and running, the real reason they were enacting that part of the plan so soon after Fury's Avengers fell apart.

Global unity was a big goal.

They were quarantined in specially pressurized chambers to effectively ease them away from the suits' highly controlled atmosphere back to Earth's less regulated atmosphere, a goal achieved by slowly bringing their rooms to outside standards (literally, making their rooms as much like the outdoors as possible). They had revolutionized the space industry in the name of planetary defense. Being an astronaut was now a bit easier, which was good in case they needed to make evacuation plans for the whole planet. When Pepper visited them, she reported on the new Extremis trials being conducted on veterans who are fully aware and accepting of the risks. A healing serum that could potentially double as a super soldier serum was invaluable. Their preparations were coming together nicely and there was always a good chance they were ahead of the curb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Protecting human jobs, that's so Tony. Whaddya guys think?


End file.
